Helen's Hen Do

Last Saturday I was at the Hen Do for my friend and bridesmaid Helen who is getting married in Italy in exactly 3 weeks. I am going to be one of her 3 bridesmaids so it was up to us to arrange the day of events, for 17 people, and keep it all a surprise for the bride! We all had a brilliant day and Helen loved what we had planned. Considering I got home at 4.45am you could also judge it a success from that!

Thats me in the black dress and the bride to be on the far right

The day began at 9am when 5 of us picked Helen up at her house. After dressing her in the usual hen night paraphernalia; sash, garter, tiara / veil and l plates, it was time to head off. We all bundled in a taxi and headed to the Marine Hotel in North Berwick, to spend the morning at the spa. We met some of the other girls there so that there were 9 of us in total. We had taken some Prosecco with us so had time for a class while choosing our treatment and lunch. {The package we had booked included full use of the facilities, a 25 minute treatment each and a 2 course lunch.}

After lazing around in the sauna, ice room, steam room, jacuzzi and the outdoor jacuzzi, we each had our treatment {I had a lovely relaxing massage} before going back to get showered then head for lunch. After lunch, and more Prosecco, it was time to get ready for the rest of the day. We looked slightly overdressed in our evening outfits at 2.30pm but it was necessary for the next part!

We came back to Haddington to meet another 3 girls in the pub. We went on ahead so could decorate quickly before Helen arrived, with a banner, balloons and loads of funny photos of Helen, with some of us too! Then we laid out some nibbles and yet more Prosecco! Once Helen and the other girls arrived, we let them all have a nose around, before we played a silly game called ‘I have never’ to break the ice a little. We each got a card we had to read out then you had to take a drink if you had done the thing on the card, and we made everyone tell the story of one of their answers. For example my card said ‘I have never kissed a man in uniform’, obviously since G used to be in the Air Force, I took a drink and took the easy option of telling that story! I think at this point Helen thought we were just staying in the pub and looked a little disappointed {since we are there all the time} so then it was time to reveal the theme for the day: Masquerade!

Me & bridesmaid Lucy took her into the toilets to put her mask on; we did tell her first we were putting her in a jumpsuit and her face was a picture; wish we had had a camera! While we were putting her mask on, everyone else was waiting outside with theirs on too, to surprise her when we came out! All the masks together looked great as they were all completely different! We got Helen a white one since she is the bride and managed to find one with a tiara on it too, as well as a scary swan!

L-R: Bridesmaid Nic, Me, Bride to be Helen, Bridesmaid Lucy & Karen-Louise {who was one of my bridesmaids} The red & black mask is my mums and I managed to bring it home intact, just minus 1 black feather!

Then it was time to leave for our next destination! We headed into Edinburgh and to Zucca Restaurant on Grindlay Street and met another 5 girls there. Since it’s an Italian, Helen assumed we had just planned to eat there but first we had a 2 hour cocktail making class, which was brilliant. We organised it through Ian at BFN Productions who I would thoroughly recommend if you wanted to do a class. The class included 4 different cocktails, so since there were 16 of us doing the class, 8 people made each one, just making enough for 2 in each shaker! I have never worked or been behind a bar in my life so I loved getting a chance to try it out; it is surprising how long it takes to just make 2 cocktails!

We made a Strawberry Daiquiri {Rum}; a Cointreaupolitain {Cointreau}; a French Martini {Vodka & Chambord} & a Day at the Beach {Amaretto & Malibu}, all totally different cocktails but all quite strong with at least 2 shots in each, so you can imagine how tipsy everyone was after 4! I made the Strawberry Daiquiri then the Day Out at the Beach. Ian showed us all how to make the cocktail first, what spirits to put in, which mixers then how to shake it using the proper Boston cocktail glass / tin shakers. Which are surprisingly hard to get apart once you have shaken your cocktail.

After the cocktail making & drinking, we had a 2 course meal which was also included in the price of the class. During dinner we had Mr & Mrs questions for Helen, that her fiancé had answered for us; she got most of them right, just 4 wrong which of course meant 4 shots of her choice! Then it was off to Monboddo for a drink, where some random Italian women took our photo as they were very excited by the masks, before we headed to our last stop of the day, the Jam House, where we stayed for the rest of the evening until the taxi came at 2.30am. Here we made Helen do the usual hen night dares, like get a free drink, get some boxers etc etc!

I was a brilliant day and now we can look forward to the wedding, its only 16 days until we all go to Italy and we have what will hopefully be our last bridesmaid dress fitting this Saturday!